Price-wise, they will match foreign ones. Yesterday, the production facility manufacturing “YAROVIT” trucks designed by Russian engineers was inaugurated, the first one in Russia since demise of the USSR.

The new Russian tractors and dump trucks consist by 70% of imported parts and cost as much as foreign equivalents. That is why KamAZ, the leader on the Russian truck market, does not fear competition from YAROVIT.

The CJSC “YAROVIT Motors” was registered in Moscow in 2003. The company founders are private persons who, prior to setting up the CJSC, had been engaged in sales of Belarusian and Russian motor equipment. In2003 the equity of YAROVIT was bought by private foreign funds that, specially for this project, registered the companies Tracks and Dumpers (Great Britain, bought 49% of the shares) and Elgin System (USA, 51% of the shares).

The GLOROS family YAROVIT truck project was developed by the company’s own pool of designers. GLOROS features the load-carrying capacity of 25-40 tons and is produced in eight modifications: the chassis, the dump truck, the concrete mixer, the logger, the short logger, the fire truck and the crane-truck. The vehicle is built with 70% of imported parts: these list Deutz, Cummins, Caterpillar engines meeting the Euro 2 and Euro 3 standards, Allison andZF Friedrichshafen transmissions. Some parts are furnished to “Yarovit” by the Works “Arsenal” of Saint Petersburg and the OJSC “Shadrinsk Motor Aggregates Plant” (Kurgan oblast).

The assembling of YAROVIT Gloros is organized in workshops purchased from Leningrad Metal Works. 130 workers are engaged in production. The total project investment volume amounts to USD 40 million. In 2004 the factory assembled a few prototypes that were sold to the companies “Phosphorite” Mines and “NorNickel” ore mine and refinery. Talks are underway to ship trucks to “NorNickel”, ALROSA, “Sibneft” and “Gazprom” as well as countries of the CIS: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan. Depending on the modification, the vehicles cost EUR 130-170 thousand. Alexander Samolazov, Director General of CJSC “YAROVIT Motors” informs that up to 40% of the vehicles are slated for leasing. The production plans stipulate for putting out 250 trucks in 2005 and by the year 2009 to step up the production volume to 1.8 thousand units. “Within one year and a half we count on buying out the shares of “YAROVIT Motors” from foreign investors and seek a strategic partner among the world’s leading manufacturers of similar equipment”, - says Andrei Birukov, President of “YAROVIT “ Group of Industries.

Similar vehicles in Russia are manufactured by KamAZ (their price is around $50 thousand) and Briansk Wheeled Tractors Plant. According to ACM-Holdings last year these companies put out only 26 such trucks. Most of the similar vehicles currently operated in Russia are foreign-made second-hand ones. Ms Irina Bystrova, Press Secretary to KamAZ asserts that demand is currently very high for trucks of 20 ton and above payloads. As she says it is exactly why KamAZ which had earlier specialized in up to 13-ton payload trucks, has started building 20-ton vehicles. The reaction to emergence of a competitor to KamAZ is reserved: “We are leaders of the market and welcome any competitors coming, the choice will always rest with the consumer”.

The spokesperson of the International Carriers Association Antonina Kamchatova stressed that the price of YAROVIT trucks is comparable to that of imported equivalents. “Everything depends on sales conditions: in case ‘YAROVIT” offers an advantageous leasing plan, this will be of interest to large companies”, - thinks Mme Kamchatova.